We arrived at Zeeland Hospital at 7:00AM. We waited about an hour before we met with Dr. Fletter. They got the pathology report back and it showed that the tumors were also in the colon. They were a little confused whether or not it was colon cancer or ovarian cancer. After the anesthesiologist gave Kristi her “I don’t care” medicine, they wheeled her away. Time: 9:00AM. I went out to the waiting room where Kristi’s mom and dad and Rich Elling were. I was crying because I just got the news about the colon cancer. Not sure why I was crying, but I was. My mom and dad showed up about 10:00AM. We hung out for about 2 hours until we were informed we could go up to the room where she would be recovering. Before going up to the room I met with the doctors who gave me a download on how things went. Everything went well with the exception they had to do a colectomy. Because they had to remove 12” of her colon, she will have to use a colostomy bag until they can reattach her colon (post chemo). She got to the room about 1:00PM. What a wreck!! She had tubes coming out of everywhere! She looked so bad. Denny came during his lunch break and brought McDonalds. Kristi vaguely remembers him coming. The rest of Friday was spent resting for Kristi. Other than our parents, we didn’t have too many visitors Friday. I sent out the following e-mail Friday night:
bkrogalske@sbcglobal.net
01/27/2007 01:19 AM
Kristi Update #3: 1-26-07
Hello family and friends.
First, I must apologize to my mom…I said I would go to bed soon. Sorry, mom, I lied. Second, I must apologize to Ashley and Nathan’s teachers…so far this week I forgot Nathan’s snow pants, lunch money, and a library book. Today I sent them out without brushing their teeth. Ew. Sorry, but I’m still in training. I’ll get the hang of it soon. At least they’ve been dressed!
OK, now for Kristi’s update. I’m sure you’ve all read her e-mail by now (‘Hugs To Everyone’). What an amazing woman. I didn’t realize she sent that until I got all the replies back and was reading them. Then I realized she sent it at like 1:00 in the morning. I have printed all your replies out and will bring them to her tomorrow. I second Kristi’s “thank you’s”. If you send an e-mail and I don’t reply, please don’t be offended. I’m trying to keep up. They all get read and shared with Kristi. Thank you x 1000. …and for the record, I don’t snore. I don’t know what she was talking about in that e-mail.
OK, now for Kristi’s update, really. We had mostly good news today. The surgery was about 2 hours from start to finish. We met with the surgeon about 10:00 tonight (yes, he was still there!). I’ll start with the bad news so I can end on a good note: There was more cancer than he expected, especially around her pelvic area. There was also a large mass on her colon. The mass was so large it fused together her left ovary and her colon. So they had to remove about 12” of her colon, along with all the other stuff I mentioned in my last e-mail. Because they had to remove such a large piece of her colon, they couldn’t reconnect it before chemotherapy without risking it breaking and leaking and causing infection. So they had to close her colon off for now. They will reconnect her colon after chemotherapy. This procedure is called a colectapy (I haven’t a clue how to say it or spell it). I’ll put it bluntly: she won’t be able to go “poo” like the rest of us until after her chemotherapy. So for the next 7 months or so, she will have a sack hanging out of her side. Yes, this sounds disgusting, but in reality it’s only an inconvenience in the grand scheme of curing the cancer. And yes, Kristi said it was OK for me to share this info. It’s a part of her healing process. So that was the bad news for the day.
Overall, the doctors were very encouraged. Even though there was more cancer than they were expecting, it came off and her organs came out easier than expected. Praise God! Another positive note was that none of the tumors on her intestines actually penetrated the wall as they thought…so, they did NOT have to remove any of her intestines. Praise God for that too. Because they were able to remove all of the visible tumors, Dr. Taylor gives her a 50% chance of beating the cancer. The average for ovarian cancer is 30%. Another note of praise is Kristi’s attitude. Amen. Even after the doctor shared her 50% odds, her response (without hesitation) was “that means I have a 50% chance of beating this”. I have to admit…that wasn’t my first reaction. What an amazing woman. I love her so much.
She is obviously very sore and tired. She is on a continuous feed of morphine for the pain along with me sitting next to the bed giving her additional doses when she asks for them. My job is simple…feed her ice chips and give her more morphine. Thankfully, Aunt Judy came to work 3rd shift and is there now feeding her ice chips and giving her morphine. Thank you Aunt Judy! Because they had to remove a piece of her colon, she will have to spend an additional 2 days in the hospital.
The prayer pager has been going off continuously. Thank you. Please continue to pray for healing, comfort, patience, and calmness for Kristi. The kids are doing well. They ask about her and miss her, but understand that she is getting “fixed”.
Thank you all!
God Bless each one of you
Brian
“For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” Ephesians 1: 15-16 Amen.
